The Ladies of Castile/Act II

Scene I
An Alcove in an artificial Wilderness

(Donna Louisa, sola)


 * The burnish'd hills o'erlook the verdant dales,
 * And nature's deck'd in all her bright array.
 * The whispering breeze plays o'er the dappled mead,
 * And fans the foliage on the flowery bank:---
 * The towering wood lark trills her tender note,
 * And soft responsive music cheers the lawn;
 * Yet here I wander wilder'd and alone,
 * Like some poor banish'd fugitive who seeks
 * The meagre comfort of a moss grown cave.

(Enter Donna Maria)

DONNA MARIA
 * Awake fond maid---nor thus supinely waste
 * Thy youth---thy bloom. Thy matchless beauty fades
 * Mid'st sorrow, sighs, and unavailing tears.

DONNA LOUISA
 * Thought feeds my woes, nor can my reason aid
 * To calm the passions of my grief torn breast,
 * 'Till concord weaves again her palmy wreath,
 * To deck the face of this distracted land.

DONNA MARIA
 * Though weak compassion sinks the female mind,
 * And our frail sex dissolve in pity's tears;
 * Yet justice' sword can never be resheath'd,
 * 'Till Charles is taught to know we will be free;
 * And learns the duty that a monarch owes,
 * To heaven---the people---and the rights of man.
 * Let him restore the liberties of Spain---
 * Dismiss the robbers that arrest his ear---
 * Those pension'd plunderers that rudely seize
 * What nature gave, and what our fathers won.

DONNA LOUISA
 * I retrospect, and weep Spain's happier days---
 * Survey the pleasures once we call'd our own,
 * When harmony display'd her gentle wand,
 * And every peasant smil'd beneath his vine---
 * 'Till nature sickens at the sad reverse,
 * And my swoln bosom heaves with smother'd sighs,
 * Too big to be repress'd.---I yield to grief
 * 'Till floods of tears relieve my tortur'd soul.

DONNA MARIA
 * Maria has a bolder part to act---
 * I scorn to live upon ignoble terms---
 * A supple courtier fawning at the feet
 * Of proud despotic nobles, or of kings.

DONNA LOUISA
 * Had I thy firmness, yet my heart would bleed
 * To see my country torn by civil feuds.
 * Each hero hurls a javelin at the breast
 * His heart reveres, and friendship's soul recoils
 * When the bold veteran urges home the blow,
 * To pierce the man he venerates and loves;
 * While the brave patriot parries back the shaft
 * Against a life that virtue's self would save.

DONNA MARIA
 * This sad necessity---this painful strife,
 * Should reunite the citizens of Spain;
 * And rouse each languid arm with tenfold zeal
 * To point the thunder at a tyrant's head,
 * Ere yet the lingering mind indignant sinks,
 * Debas'd and trembling at a despot's frown.
 * Rather let cities that support his reign,
 * Like Torbolatan yesterday reduc'd,
 * Be storm'd and sack'd before tomorrow's dawn;
 * And thus be taught the weakness of the mind
 * That dare a moment balance in the scale,
 * A crown for kings---with liberty to man.

DONNA LOUISA
 * But ah, Maria!---this little self obtrudes;
 * I cannot boast disinterested grief;
 * Louisa's tears can never cease to flow.
 * If brave Don Juan wins a glorious day,
 * My father---friends---and family are lost;
 * If victory for loyalty declares---
 * Or if DON FRANCIS---noble Francis, falls---
 * Is there a name from Castile to the Rhone,
 * So wretched as thy friend---thy lov'd Louisa?

DONNA MARIA
 * Thou should'st have liv'd in mild and gentler times,
 * And breath'd, and slumber'd in the lap of peace,
 * As innocent and soft as infant love,
 * When lull'd to rest by a fond mother's song:
 * The smiling babe, wak'd by the wind's rude breath,
 * The pearly dew drop trickles from its eye,
 * 'Till sooth'd to quiet by its favourite toy;
 * But for myself---though famine, chains, and death
 * Should all combine---nay, should Don Juan fall---
 * Which Heav'n forbid---I ne'er will yield,
 * Nor own myself a slave.---But see thy lover,
 * Pensive, walks this way.---Adieu, my friend,
 * I must be gone---the busy moments call---
 * My mind is fraught with cares of high import.

(Exit)

Scene II
(Enter Don Francis and Donna Louisa)

DON FRANCIS
 * Let hope return and spread her silken wing,
 * And smile beneath the canopy of love;
 * The heav'n born mind, where virtue sits enthron'd,
 * Should be serene, nor waste itself in sighs.

DONNA LOUISA
 * Talk not of love, while sympathetic pain,
 * And keenest sorrows, rive the boldest heart;
 * While thousands fall at freedom's sacred shrine,
 * And bathe her pedestal with the rich blood
 * Of the best soldiers that the world can boast;
 * While the fond wife droops o'er her dying lord,
 * And orphan'd babes, and widow'd matrons weep,
 * Thrown helpless, on a cold, ungrateful world,
 * As pitiless as winter's frozen hand.

DON FRANCIS
 * For human woes my heart has often bled---
 * Yet dry thy tears, and calm thy ruffled mind---
 * Anticipate my bliss, and bid me live:---
 * Oh! give thy hand, and plight thy sacred vow,
 * Ere war's hoarse clarion summons to the field,
 * That nought but death shall tear thee from my arms.

DONNA LOUISA
 * Why wilt thou urge and importune my vows
 * While all my soul is agony and grief?---
 * Name love no more, till peace shall bless the land;
 * When redden'd wrath no longer lifts the sword,
 * Dip'd to the hilt in rancour's baneful stream---
 * That the steel'd heart may deeper plunge the blade,
 * Without a sigh---when from the gaping wound,
 * Out rushes, staring, the astonish'd soul
 * Of his lov'd friend, or of a brother slain.
 * Ah!---whither do I rove---let me retire,
 * Lest I betray the weakness of my heart.

DON FRANCIS
 * O might I claim that tender trickling tear,
 * And call those sighs my own---they'd waft me on
 * Towards the field of fame, with fresh blown hope,
 * That ere tomorrow's sun engulphs his brow,
 * And cools his steeds beyond the western main,
 * I might return victorious to thine arms,
 * And lay my trophies at Louisa's feet.

DONNA LOUISA
 * And what these trophies---but a brother's spoils?
 * Who is the victim thy success would doom
 * To infamy---disgrace---despair and death?

DON FRANCIS
 * Ah! there's the pain---the sharpest pang I feel
 * To lift the sword, and tread the hostile ground.
 * The Conde Haro is a virtuous foe.

DONNA LOUISA
 * The Conde Haro---is---Louisa's brother---
 * The only heir of Don Velasco's house---
 * And if he falls---fate severs us forever.

DON FRANCIS
 * Forever!---revoke the sentence ere it reaches heaven.

DONNA LOUISA
 * Forever. Remember this, and spare De Haro's blood.

DON FRANCIS
 * But, if in battle he should bravely fall---

DONNA LOUISA
 * A stern, enrag'd, inexorable fire,
 * Might hold Louisa guilty of his death.

DON FRANCIS
 * Just Heaven forbld!---Could he arraign a mind
 * As pure and spotless as the infant morn?

DONNA LOUISA
 * Velasco is to royalty alli'd,
 * A feudal lord, of ancient pedigree;
 * In rank, in wealth, in fame, the first in Spain;
 * His high swoln pride bursts forth in peals of rage,
 * Whene'er he talks or names the rebel chiefs;
 * Forbids his son to spare a single life,
 * If fortune makes him master of the field:---
 * Think then what agonies pervade my breast.

DON FRANCIS
 * When honour calls, and justice wields the sword,
 * True virtue spares, and clemency forgives;
 * But when a fierce, tyrannic lust of sway,
 * Deforms the soul, and blots out nature's stamp,
 * The wolf, or tyger, prowling for his prey,
 * Is less a savage than the monster man.

DONNA LOUISA
 * No more, my lord---I sink beneath the storm;
 * The jarring passions tear my feeble frame---
 * My filial duties make the first demand;
 * Yet, spite of these, a group of passions rise,
 * Love---friendship---fear---compassion and despair,
 * Alternate rend, in spite of reason's sway.
 * Amidst the storm, the kind De Haro comes,
 * And with a smile, ineffably serene,
 * With all the softness of fraternal love,
 * He cries---forbear to think of me again,
 * Or that thy brother hazards fame or life,
 * Against the valour of a dearer name.
 * Alas!---how weak my trembling heart's become---
 * Oh!---what has my unguarded tongue disclos'd!

DON FRANCIS
 * What makes me bless'd beyond the power of fate.

DONNA LOUISA
 * Deception oft beneath a flimsy veil,
 * Hides human hearts, nor lets man know himself.
 * Should fortune snatch the victory from thee---
 * Thyself---thy friends---and freedom lost at once---
 * Perhaps you'll curse, in agonies of grief,
 * Louisa's house---her venerated sire---
 * Her noble brother---and yet more I dread---
 * Yes---my lip trembles at the rising thought---
 * The hapless daughter of thy cruel foe.
 * Is thy love proof against this test severe?---

DON FRANCIS
 * Description would but beggar love like mine;
 * Measure the earth and mount beyond the stars,
 * There's nought below can bound its full extent;
 * Not death itself can blot thee from my heart.

DONNA LOUISA
 * Then am I thine!---witness ye heavenly powers!---
 * This is the signet of thy wedded wife;

(Gives him a ring)


 * In the last exigence weigh well its worth,
 * And claim thy life from Don Velasco's hand.
 * This was the pledge of his Zelinda's faith:
 * Knowing the sallies of his haughty soul---
 * In a fond moment of paternal love,
 * He kiss'd my cheek, and caught my trembling hand,
 * Fix'd on my finger this invalu'd gem,
 * And by a solemn oath' he bound his soul,
 * To grant each prayer when this should plead its claim.

DON FRANCIS
 * Language is poor, and time itself would fail
 * To speak the raptures of my grateful heart.

DONNA LOUISA
 * What have I done---my filial love,
 * And the connubial ties---at variance set---
 * A brother's life against a husband's stak'd---
 * My country's weal, with loyalty at war---
 * Confusion---tumult---death and slaughter reign;
 * As if the demons leap'd Tartarus' bounds
 * To sport with misery and grin at pain.

DON FRANCIS
 * Heaven has the means to extricate from woe,
 * Though veil'd from man---if patience waits his will:---
 * When fortitude, her sister virtue joins,
 * They both triumphant, meet a just reward.
 * Adieu, my love---my duty bids me haste;

(Trumpets without)


 * Soon I return, victorious from the field,
 * And clasp an angel to my faithful breast.

(Exit)

DONNA LOUISA, solus
 * -He's gone!---
 * I feel the parting stroke severe indeed---
 * As if his lips pronounc'd a last adieu.
 * Now all ye powers supreme, support my soul;
 * Teach me to brave the conflicts of the world
 * In this extreme distress---nor let me swerve
 * From honour's path, or virtue's strictest rule;
 * Nor let my conscience once upbraid my steps.

(Exit)

Scene III
(Conde Haro, solus)

CONDE HARO
 * Velasco's will, back'd by the king's command,
 * I must obey, or blast my rising fame,
 * And hazard all in the precarious cause,
 * Of freedom, stak'd against the power of kings:
 * Yet warring passions tear my tortur'd soul;
 * Discordant hopes make me a wretch indeed.
 * I love Maria---I revere her lord---
 * And almost wish the vict'ry may be his;
 * Yet if he falls---he falls as Brutus fell,
 * In the last struggle for his country's well;
 * While my success will rivet fast her chains,
 * Erase each vestige of her ancient rights,
 * And make me odious in Maria's eye.
 * And shall I foster this inglorious flame?
 * A hopeless passion gnawing on my peace,
 * And cankering my soul against the man
 * I once esteem'd my friend---though now a foe,
 * He's virtue's friend where'er he meets her name.
 * The moral sense, that checks the wayward will,
 * Now witness bear---I'm master of myself:---
 * I'll meet him in the field on equal terms;
 * No base desire, or any lawless wish,
 * Shall more obtrude to interrupt my peace:---
 * But honour, justice, duty to my king,
 * Shall wield my sword, and lead to spotless fame.

(Exit)

Scene IV
(Don Juan De Padilla and Donna Maria)

DON JUAN DE PADILLA
 * First of thy sex---thou mistress of my heart---
 * Not all Hesperia can boast a fair
 * So amiably soft, discreet and wise;
 * With such a firm, heroic, noble soul,
 * Why should a tear bedew thy lovely cheek?

DONNA MARIA
 * I see distress on every side I turn;
 * Some sad dejection marks the soldiers brow;
 * Though veterans in arms, they fear the king,
 * And tremble at the frown of majesty:---
 * The nobles all, though emulous of fame,
 * Are jealous, proud---are turbulent and rash---
 * The people fierce, yet ever prone to change,
 * Today the cap of liberty's toss'd up---
 * Tomorrow torn and given to the winds,
 * And all their leaders, by the fickle throng
 * Are sacrific'd by violence, or fraud.

DON JUAN DE PADILLA
 * So far above the weakness of thy sex,
 * Let me beseech thee never to despair;---
 * Support thy courage, arm thy noble mind---
 * Sure never more did thy Padilla need
 * Thy wisdom, counsel, fortitude and zeal,
 * To animate amidst ten thousand cares.
 * But my firm purpose never can be shook;
 * While life glows warm within my beating breast,
 * I will defend, against the proudest foe,
 * The liberties of Spain, my country's rights.

DONNA MARIA
 * So dangerous a foe has Spain ne'er seen
 * Since from the brindled North, the savage hords
 * Pour'd from their frozen hives, where gendering storms
 * Have rush'd, and swell'd fair Ebro's banks with blood.

DON JUAN DE PADILLA
 * We have been free e'er since the mighty Goths,
 * In barb'rous swarms, compell'd the peaceful swain
 * To bare his breast, and meet the stranger's sword;
 * The raw and hardy peasants of the field,
 * Train'd up to arms, inur'd to feats of war,
 * Op'd their full veins and wash'd in native gore
 * The field, the village, and their father's tombs,
 * Ere they establish'd liberty and peace.
 * Their ancient victories shall be recall'd
 * By the warm fluid from Don Juan's heart,
 * Ere he'll submit to drag about this shell
 * Through nature's system, as an useless drone,
 * Or live the slave of any lawless power.

DONNA MARIA
 * O Heaven forbid!---nor dash my country's hopes;
 * Or premature, cut down before the noon
 * A life of glory and heroic worth,
 * And blast success, while virtue lifts the sword.

DON JUAN DE PADILLA
 * Sure life protracted is a vulgar wish,
 * Unless some noble end blows up the flame.

DONNA MARIA
 * Spite of myself, I have betray'd a tear;
 * But feel my courage brighten by thy side;
 * Nor shall the weakness of my sex again,
 * Create a fear that may disturb thy peace.

DON JUAN DE PADILLA
 * Haste back, my love, lest some mishap befal;
 * The good Zemora guard, Toledo's gates
 * With vigilance and faith;---there thou art safe.
 * Protect my son, and guard his infant years;
 * In his young bosom nurture every truth,
 * 'Till ripen'd worth and manly virtue glow,
 * And mark him thine and thy Padilla's son.
 * The hasty moments fly---I must away---
 * I risque a battle on the morning dawn.

DONNA MARIA
 * O may we meet against with brighter hopes!---

DON JUAN DE PADILLA
 * We meet again with glory and renown---
 * Or, meet no more.--

DONNA MARIA
 * -Or meet no more!
 * The dread idea stiffens every nerve.

DON JUAN DE PADILLA
 * Let no ill omen'd word escape thy lip.
 * Fair freedom stands, and waves her laurel high;
 * She, on the acme of her burnish'd throne,
 * Shall hail the morrow with applauding shouts,
 * And greet Maria, as the guardian queen
 * Of union, peace, and liberty to Spain.

(Exeunt)

Scene V
(Don Juan De Padilla and Don Pedro)

DON PEDRO GHIRON
 * Toledo's banners reach the pendant skies,
 * And kiss the winds, and hail the work begun:
 * I sicken for the signal to the field,
 * When a decisive conflict must ensue;
 * I burn, I languish, till the tyrant falls,
 * With all the flatt'rers that surround his throne.

DON JUAN DE PADILLA
 * Be temperate in words, but bold in deeds;
 * Most men are brave till courage has been try'd,
 * And boast of virtue till their price is known:---
 * But thirst of gold---the cursed thirst of gold,
 * Which plunder'd Mexico of all its wealth,
 * And broil'd her valiant sons in quest of more,
 * Is a severer tyrant of the mind,
 * Than coarser vice that mark'd our simpler state,
 * Ere cruel Spain explor'd that distant world.
 * Then golden bribes corrupted not the mind;
 * No son of Castile, or of Arragon,
 * E'er sold his honour, or relinquish'd fame,
 * For soft refinements that flow in with wealth,
 * Nor stoop'd to wear the liv'ry of a slave.

DON PEDRO GHIRON
 * Let not a coward, or a knave be spar'd,
 * Who shrouds his head from danger or from death,
 * When freedom's cause stands trembling on the sword.

DON JUAN DE PADILLA
 * Tomorrow gives a glorious test of worth;
 * Courage will shine conspicuously bright,
 * Or guilt may shake and dash the nerveless arm,
 * That draws a sword to massacre the brave.

DON PEDRO GHIRON
 * Virtue's fair image then will shield thy head,
 * And animate the man who dare be free.

(Flourish of trumpets, and alarm without)

DON JUAN DE PADILLA
 * The hostile clarion summons to the field.

(Pedro greatly agitated)


 * Hah!---pale and trembling at the trumpet's sound!---
 * Pedro, haste on, and take thy destin'd post,
 * 'Twill lead to glory, conquest, and to fame;
 * To sure renown, if valour guides thy arm;
 * But certain infamy, disgrace and death,
 * If treason lurks beneath the guise of zeal.

(Exit Don Juan)

DON PEDRO GHIRON, solus.
 * Curse on Don Juan's penetrating eye---
 * He's prob'd my soul---suspects I am a villain:---
 * 'Tis true that envy of his fame at first,
 * Bound the bright helmet on Don Pedro's brow,
 * And not the bubble freedom---empty name!---
 * 'Tis all a puff---a visionary dream---
 * That kindles up this patriotic flame;
 * 'Tis rank self love, conceal'd beneath a mask
 * Of public good. The hero's brain inflates---
 * He cheats himself by the false medium,
 * Held in virtue's guise, till he believes it just:
 * But the vile rabble---the plebeian race,
 * Made for the yoke, bend like the servile mule,
 * And own mankind were made for slaves to power.
 * A waxen pillar in the central point
 * Of sol's meridian beams, melts not so fast,
 * As will their army waste by court intrigues,
 * By fraud, by bribes, by flattery and fear:
 * A slow campaign ensures success to Charles---
 * A weak, plebeian, discontented band,
 * Will soon grow weary, and desert their chiefs.
 * I will retard, embarrass, and delay;
 * Sow discord round, while they inactive lie:
 * Then fly secure to Don Urano's roof.
 * My fire detests this noisy factious rout,
 * And opes his arms to welcome my return;
 * And Don Velasco pays a noble price---
 * His price would bribe a prince to quit his crown.
 * Let nations sink---posterity be thrall'd---
 * Vice reign triumphant---liberty expire---
 * May I but humble haughty Juan's pride,
 * And gain Louisa---as the bless'd reward.

(Exit)